Wells, who has an artificial leg that limits her ability to work, is on disability assistance and earns “a bit of extra money” designing and selling jewelry. She has friends who have used payday loans, she said, and none have had positive experiences.

ACORN wants the B.C. government to change the legislation regulating the payday loan industry, including reducing the maximum rates charged, currently up to $23 per $100 borrowed.

Those rates can work out to the equivalent of paying 500 per cent or more annually, according to a January report from Vancity. British Columbians, the report noted, are using payday loans at an increasingly higher per-capita rate than the rest of the country.

B.C. NDP finance critic Carole James raised the topic last month in the legislature, calling the findings of the Vancity report “shocking,” and adding: “The annualized percentage rates are outrageous and cause families to get further and further and further into debt.”

James pressed the Liberal government on why they had not followed through on “an election platform promise … in 2013 to reduce the maximum interest payable on payday loans.”

In an emailed statement Monday, a spokeswoman for the solicitor-general’s ministry said staff are working on a proposal for a review of B.C.’s payday lending regulations, which is expected to be provided to the minister by the end of the year.

Last month, the Alberta government introduced “An Act to End Predatory Lending,” a bill proposing to “bring substantive changes to the payday lending industry, including the country’s lowest borrowing rates,” the government said.

“In Alberta, what they’ve done will be devastating for the industry, but more importantly than that, it will result in a denial of access to certain borrowers who need payday loans,” Irwin said Monday.

“These changes are going to force consumers to the illegal, unlicensed industry,” said Irwin, adding many illegal loan companies operate online and are based “offshore, outside of any Canadian jurisdictions.”

“When the regulations are too restrictive, forcing some of the licensed lenders to close their doors, the need for credit doesn’t go away. So those borrowers are going to go somewhere to find it,” Irwin said.

Payday-loan companies offer short-term, small sum loans for high fees, to people who need quick cash. In B.C., payday lenders can charge up to $23 per $100 borrowed.

Those rates can work out to the equivalent of paying 500 per cent or more annually, according to a January report from Vancity. British Columbians, the report noted, are using payday loans at an increasingly higher per-capita rate than the rest of the country.

Between 2012 and 2014, the report said, the number of payday loan borrowers in B.C. grew 58 per cent, the report said, and the size of the industry grew from about $318 million to more than $385 million.

The problem:

The industry has come under sharp criticism recently. In the U.S., federal regulators are trying to crack down on payday lenders.

A proposal to regulate American payroll lenders was unveiled this month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose director Richard Cordray told the New York Times that the payday lending industry “is much like getting into a taxi just to ride across town and finding yourself stuck in a ruinously expensive cross-country journey.”

B.C. NDP finance critic Carole James raised the topic last month in the legislature, calling the Vancity report’s findings “shocking,” adding: “The annualized percentage rates are outrageous and cause families to get further and further and further into debt.”

James pressed the Liberal government on why they had not followed through on “an election platform promise by the government in 2013 to reduce the maximum interest payable on payday loans.”

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for the solicitor-general’s ministry said Monday “staff are working on a proposal for a review of the province’s payday lending regulations, which is expected to be provided to the minister by the end of 2016.”

The solution:

A statement released Tuesday by ACORN said their members “want the government to make changes to its seven-year-old legislation to include regulations that will tackle online lending, extend payback periods with no penalty, and develop a database that would prevent repeat users from falling into vicious cycles of debt.”

The industry has come under fire recently, including in the U.S., where this month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposal to regulate payday loans.

Last month, the Alberta government introduced “An Act to End Predatory Lending,” a bill proposing to change maximum borrowing rates to the lowest in Canada.

The industry’s take:

The head of Canada’s payday-lending industry association says Alberta’s changes could have unintended consequences.

Tony Irwin, president of the Canadian Payday Loan Association, said Alberta’s changes “will be devastating for the industry, but more importantly than that, it will result in a denial of access to certain borrowers who need payday loans.

“These changes are going to force consumers to the illegal, unlicensed industry,” said Irwin.

The action:

ACORN B.C. is planning a rally Tuesday calling on B.C.’s government to “clamp down on predatory lending in B.C.” The rally will start at noon Tuesday outside a Money Mart location at Commercial Drive and East 10th Avenue.

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